About

Short bio:

“Austin Ali understands the point of the bass trombone. This’ll be fun.”
–Satisfied bass trombone player

Austin Ali (b. 1997) is an award-winning composer, trumpet player, and conductor from Dallas, Texas. Musicians from Washington, DC to Costa Rica to Valencia, Spain have performed Austin’s music, including symphony orchestras, brass bands, jazz ensembles, soloists, chamber groups, wind ensembles, and choirs. In addition to the concert stage, Austin composed, orchestrated, and conducted the score to a feature-length film entitled Dear Leo (dir. Emma Rappold) in Austin, TX in 2019. Austin holds degrees in Music Composition and Plan II Honors from the University of Texas at Austin. In Spring 2020, Austin received the George H. Mitchell Award for Academic Excellence for his Plan II Thesis A Musical Portrait of Triton, the Rogue Moon of Neptune. Austin currently studies music composition in the Herb Alpert School of Music at University of California, Los Angeles (MA, Class of 2022). At UCLA, Austin serves as a teaching assistant for Dr. Dwayne Milburn and studies composition with Dr. Ian Krouse and Richard Danielpour.

In addition to composing, Austin loves to play the trumpet. For the last four years, he has performed with the endlessly funky Big Wy’s Brass Band. The group showcased their original music at the IGA International Jazz Festival in Guatemala in 2017, performed for the president of Costa Rica in Limón, Costa Rica, were invited as Official South By Southwest (SXSW) Artists from 2018-2020, and won “Best Horns” in the 2019-2020 Austin Music Awards. Austin served as the primary composer and arranger for the band’s two records Portal to Funkville and Lord Dope, available on all streaming platforms.

Austin’s music has been performed/recorded by musicians including:

  • The Austin Symphony Orchestra
  • Spanish Brass
  • Christopher Bill
  • The University of Texas Wind Ensemble
  • The University of Texas Wind Symphony
  • The University of Texas Trombone Choir
  • The University of Texas Jazz Orchestra
  • The University of Texas Jazz Ensemble
  • The Atlantic Music Festival Contemporary Ensemble
  • Michael Dean “ClarinetMike”
  • Big Wy’s Brass Band
  • The Mockingbird Brass Quintet
  • The Sonos Quartet
  • The Inversion Ensemble
  • The DC Trombone Workshop Choir
  • The Plano West Senior High School Wind Ensemble
  • The Shepton High School Wind Ensemble
  • The Shepton High School Symphony Orchestra
  • The Frankford Middle School Symphonic Band

Resume:

Education:

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES

Los Angeles, CA (Class of 2022)

M.A. in Music Composition – studying with Ian Krouse and Richard Danielpour

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

Austin, TX (Class of 2020, with Highest Honors, 3.98 GPA)

B.A in Plan II Honors – interdisciplinary honors program with capstone thesis project

B.M. in Music Composition – studying with Yevgeniy Sharlat, Donald Grantham,  Christopher Trapani, Russell Podgorsek, and John Mills

PLANO WEST SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Plano, TX (Class of 2016, top 3%, 4.45 GPA)

Awards/Honors:

UNIVERSITY CO-OP GEORGE H. MITCHELL AWARD, 2020

Earned one of the University of Texas’s most prestigious awards for academic and creative achievement for Plan II Senior Thesis A Musical Portrait of Triton, the Rogue Moon of Neptune

SARAH AND ERNEST BUTLER AUSTIN SYMPHONY TEXAS YOUNG COMPOSERS CONTEST, 2015-17

1st Place – Blissful Nightmares (2015)

3rd Place – Larger than Life (2016)

Finalist – Ostinato for Orchestra (2017)

CHRISTOPHER BILL INTERNATIONAL TROMBONE COMPOSITION COMPETITION, 2016

1st Place – Full Volume (2016)

NATIONAL YOUNG COMPOSERS CHALLENGE, 2015-16

Finalist – Blissful Nightmares (2015)

Finalist – Ostinato for Orchestra (2016)

PHILADELPHIA YOUTH ORCHESTRA COMPOSITION COMPETITION, 2017

3rd Place – Ostinato for Orchestra (2017)

NORTH AMERICA-COSTA RICA PROMISING ARTIST OF THE 21ST CENTURY, 2017

Recognized for performance in Big Wy’s Brass Band in Guatemala and invited to perform across Costa Rica in August 2017. Met with the US Ambassador to Costa Rica and performed for the President of Costa Rica.

College Acceptances:

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, MUSIC COMPOSITION AND PLAN II HONORS

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES, MUSIC COMPOSITION

THE JUILLIARD SCHOOL, MUSIC COMPOSITION

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK, COLUMBIA COLLEGE

RICE UNIVERSITY, MUSIC COMPOSITION

BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC, TRUMPET PERFORMANCE AND MUSIC COMPOSITION

References:

DR. DONALD GRANTHAM, COMPOSITION INSTRUCTOR

Donald Grantham is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes in composition, including the Prix Lili Boulanger, the Nissim/ASCAP Orchestral Composition Prize, First Prize in the Concordia Chamber Symphony’s Awards to American Composers, and his works have been performed by the orchestras of Cleveland, Dallas, Atlanta and the American Composers Orchestra.

ANTHONY CORROA, MENTOR 

Anthony Corroa is a widely-acclaimed professional orchestral trumpeter and arts administrator. He currently serves as executive director of the Austin Symphony Orchestra. He is the founder of the Sarah and Ernest Butler Texas Young Composers Competition and Concert.

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